Head-block for hay-presses.



No. 813,409. PATENTED FEB 27, l906 E.E.DRAKE.

HEAD BLOCK FOR HAY PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED 00T- 6,1905.

UNITED STATES PATEN FFllQE.

HEAD-BLOCK FOR HAY-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2'7, 1906..

Application filed October 6, 1905. Serial No. 281,626.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELvis EDWARD DRAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nashville, in the county of Davidson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Head-Block for Hay-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in head-blocks which are placed in balingpresses at intervals to separate the compressed hay into bales of suitable sizes.

Heretofore head-blocks have been provided with substantially \lshaped grooves to receive the wires for tying up the bales, but difficulty has been experienced in passing the'wires through the grooves for arranging them around the bales while the balingpress is in operation, as the sharp or rough edges of the wire frequently embed themselves either in the wood of the head-block or in the bale, and it then becomes necessary to withdraw the wire and again attempt to pass it through the groove.

The object of the present invention is to obviate the above objection and toprovide a head-block having grooves through which wires may be rapidly passed and in which thed wires will be retained until the bales are tie With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a baling-press provided with head-blocks arranged at intervals. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the headblocks. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the same. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the head-block and one of the grooves, illustrating the construction of the wire guiding and retaining means.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a head-block designed to be constructed in the usual manner'of a plural ity of layers of wood and adapted to be what I claim as new, and

placed in a baling-press 2 at intervals, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, for separating the hay into bales of the desired size. The head-block is provided at each. of its faces with wire-receiving grooves 3, having outwardly converging side walls 4, forming tapering spaces for the wires and providing a constricted entrance. Within each of the grooves is arranged a metallic lining consisting of a rear wall 5 and outwardly-converging side walls 6, forming wireengaging jaws and providing resilient expansible portions or sides which further constrict the longitudinal opening or mouth of the groove to a size less than the diameter of the wire. The rear and side walls 5. and 6 also present smooth unbroken surfaces for enabling a wire having either a smooth or rough end to be easily and quickly passed through the'groove from one end to the other. The rear wall of the lining fits flat against the inner wall of the groove, and the eXpansible resilient sides engage the side walls of the groove at the inner portions thereof adjacent to the rear wall and. firmly hold. the lining in position in the groove, so that it is unnecessary to provide screws, nails, or other fastening devices for securing the lining to the head-block. This enables a perfectly smooth interior guiding-surface to be presented to the wires. The resilient side walls of the lining do not interfere with the re moval of the wire when the proper force is applied, and in tying a bale the wire is readily drawn through the longitudinal mouths or openings of the grooves. As soon as the wire is placed under tension through the 6X pansion of the bale it is quickly withdrawn from the grooves of the head-block, as will be readily understood.

Having thus fully described my invention, desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A head-block provided with a wire-receiving groove, and means located within the groove for guiding a wire through the same and for yieldably holding the wire in the groove.

2. A head-block provided with a wire-receiving groove, and means for yieldablyretaining the wire in the groove.

3. A head-block provided with a wire-receiving groove, and a metallic lining having resilient sides spaced from the walls of the u'oove at the longitudinal mouth or opening C u I I thereof and constricting the same, said sides IIO being adapted to expand to permit the Wire Walls of the groove and constricting the longito be drawn through them. tudinal opening or mouth of the same.

4. A head-block having a Wire-receiving In testimony that I claim the foregoing as groove provided With outwardly-converging my oWn I have hereto affixed my signature 5 sidri1 Wal%ls, and a metciilllilc lining arranged in the presence of two Witnesses.

Wit in t e groove an avln convel" m side Walls, said side Walls being; reslllen t t3 ELVIS EDWARD DRAKE- engage the inner portions of the side Walls of Witnesses: the groove, and the outer portions of the T. F. HUNT,

1o sides of the lining being spaced from the J. B. WHITSETT. 

